Chris Christie responds to Rand Paul's offer to have a beer together

Christie on Wednesday night declined Paul’s public offer for the two of them to kick back over a few beers and bury the hatchet in their Republican-on-Republican feud.

“I’m running for re-election in New Jersey, I don’t really have time for that at the moment,” the New Jersey governor said on the state’s 101.5 FM radio. “If I find myself down in Washington I’ll certainly look him up, but I don’t suspect I’ll be there anytime soon, I’ve got work to do here.”

Paul had suggested the two sit down together earlier on Wednesday as their war of words continued to escalate.

“I’m inviting him to a beer – anytime he would like to come down and sit down at the pub right around the corner from the Senate,” the Kentucky senator said on Fox News. He also floated meeting in a “middle ground like Philadelphia.”

The fight between the two likely GOP 2016 candidates started after Christie criticized Paul last week over his opposition to federal surveillance programs. Paul countered that Christie was one of the ones “bankrupting the government” after he asked for federal relief from Hurricane Sandy. Christie subsequently accused Paul of bringing home “pork barrel spending,” after which Paul called Christie “the king of bacon.”

Christie said Wednesday that Paul was throwing out “juvenile” names.

“I just have to assume from that, that he’s trying to get some attention. And that’s fine,” Christie said. “He’s not the first politician to use me to get attention in the national media and I’m sure he won’t be the last.”